“Welcome to the future. Our wall light technology is centuries ahead of yours”

It’s the 23rd century and the human race is confined to a giant indoor golf dome where life is full of no work, all play and for some reason no indoor golfing. Instead you’re killed off when you hit the ripe old age of 30 in a weird 70’s disco version of Cirque Du Soleil. I guess it’s some sort of societal right of passage to thin the herd. You even have a little red light on your hand to remind you it’s time to go. Kinda like a mortality alarm clock without a snooze button. The few people tha try to escape the dome are known as runners and the police that track them are known as Sandmen. Logan played by Michael York is a Sandman who learns the truth of their society (who in turn has his light-hand switch to dead) and starts his own running man game. Along with his new found girlfriend Jessica played by Jenny Agutter, they make their way to the legend of sanctuary to escape the dome and bring the truth back to their people. The truth is pretty lame as they find it’s just an old crazy guy with a thousand cats. Maybe they should have just stayed in the golf dome. Maybe next time they’ll try to scout for a better location. If you like THX 1138 you’ll love this movie. Great 70’s sci-fi nostalgia.

“What is a superstition? A well-known encyclopedia defines this word as a prejudice, which is a belief in supernatural, in forces from the other world. A superstitious man is one who relies not on logic and common sense, but on some irrational speculation and classified stereotypes of society. This phenomenon is spread among all types of people. Even among celebrities. Guys from rouletteonline.net made an infographic with some interesting information regarding popular stars and their superstitions. ”

One of the more successful blockbuster releases from this summer was War for the Planet of the Apes, which is the latest instalment in a franchise that will reach its 50th anniversary during 2018. That was when the initial adaptation of the novel was released and in the years since it has proven to be one of the most enduring franchises, even moving successfully into other entertainment platforms.

Original film series

The novel that the Planet of the Apes film from 1968 was based on was French and had the title La Planete des Singes, when it was published five years earlier. That original film starred Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowell and was a huge hit at the time – as well as going on to become an iconic film of its era. There are very few people who are not familiar with the closing scene featuring a destroyed Statue of Liberty, which has been affectionately parodied many times. The box office success of the film led to a string of sequels, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes, during the early 1970s. These lacked the star power and critical acclaim of the original, but proved reasonably successful at the box office – albeit none achieved anything close to the $33,395426 worldwide box office gross of the first film. By the time of the final film in 1973, the sense of diminishing returns was clear, backed up by worldwide box office figures of just $8,800,000, and the franchise disappeared from cinema screens for nearly thirty years.

Other mediums

Perhaps this was partly down to oversaturation as this era also saw a television series launched – with McDowell on board. The show centred on a similar premise to the original film, with humans oppressed by apes in the future, but did not prove a hit with audiences and was cancelled after one series. There was also an animated series – Return to the Planet of the Apes – briefly screened in 1975, but this failed to find an audience. The franchise has made a much more successful move into other entertainment mediums in recent years however, with the launch of spin-offs like the themed Planet of the Apes slot game.

Burton reboot

The franchise was finally revived in 2001 by acclaimed director Tim Burton, following a long period in development, and his Planet of the Apes featured stars like Mark Wahlberg and Helena Bonham-Carter. Burton was criticised by many fans of the original for the changes he made to the story however and the film flopped at the box office.

Whether it’s Archaeopteryx, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurs Rex or the humble chicken, there’s a dinosaur for everyone out there – and still more being dug up; the Chinese Beibeilong sinensis or “baby dragon” was found inside a fossilized egg and made the news worldwide as recently as May of this year. Our near universal love of giant lizards is encapsulated by just one movie series though: Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.

A film that made cinemagoers fear long grass the way Jaws kept an entire generation out of the water, Jurassic Park has gone through a number of plotlines over its five-movie run, with the third installment built around arguably the most baffling; namely, velociraptors that can “talk”. The success of Jurassic World repositioned the franchise as one of the top adventure movies out there though, serving as something of a “soft” reboot for the dinos.

Jurassic Park’s fame goes well beyond the silver screen now though, with video games and even LEGO sets based on the movie series. A five-reel slot machine made by Microgaming and playable on the Guts casino website is a distinctly modern use of the Jurassic Park brand, featuring the likeness of Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), and the female Brachiosaur from the original film.

The Jurassic Park Online slot game is one of the more popular titles in the Guts catalogue due to its 243 paylines, range of Free Spin features, and the T-Rex Alert Mode, which can add 35 wilds to the game at any given moment. The slot is one of a number of pop culture-branded games on the Guts website, along with Game of Thrones, Hellboy, Tomb Raider: Secret of the Sword, and Hitman, a title based on Square Enix’s popular video game.

But what’s next for Jurassic Park? As the film with the third biggest opening ever, Jurassic World 2 was inevitable and has in fact already been greenlit for a June 2018 release. Starring Chris Pratt as Owen and possibly Jeff Goldblum as shirtless scientist Ian Malcolm, the fifth entry in the long running franchise will actually take its cues from the first: remember when Dennis Nedrey (Wayne Knight) tried to steal and sell InGen’s research?

Open Source

Concerned with the implications of a black or open source market in dinosaur DNA, Jurassic World 2 will ostensibly deal with a domesticated dinosaur, creatures bred for war, agriculture, transport, and other human-oriented tasks. It’s a dystopic concept that’s superficially similar to that of Greg Bear’s 1998 book Dinosaur Summer – but whether the sequel will go for a Planet of the Apes-style rebellion or a standard chompfest is anybody’s guess at this point.

Part of the groundwork for the plot was laid in the first Jurassic World, with one of the most memorable scenes Owen’s efforts to “train” velociraptors. The idea of weaponized dinosaurs has parallels with the San Diego Incident (The Lost World) too, in which a rampaging T-Rex destroyed part of the city as it searched for its stolen child. Significantly, Jurassic World 2 will also leave the islands of Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna behind.

There’s still a year to go until Jurassic World 2’s opening night so a lot could change in the franchise’s canon before then. Regardless, as the archetypical adventure for all ages, the fifth dinosaur romp could be the movie event of the year.

Welcome to another review, folks! You ever watch a movie, and hope that it’s good, like really wish it turns into a knockout, but then falls JUST short of it? That’s what you’ll get with this movie. Massive potential, a nice drive, but, in the end, it just can’t click that last gear to make it good. So, let’s dive into “Spectral,” a Netflix original.

If cliches make you groan, look away, now. There’s a lone soldier, marching through an unknown wasteland, to fight an unknown foe. Of course, he’s the only survivor of a group that came up against a new kind of enemy. Which begs the question: Why did the rest of his unit die at the hands of this adversary, but he was left alive, and alone? Did his unit hate him that much? Did he miss the ‘move out’ command while in the bathroom? I’m all for setting the scene, but this is stretching it. Oh, look, dead guys.

We should go that way, while ignoring the voice on the radio that’s almost yelling to wait for back up. Cliche number two, in almost as many minutes: He ain’t got time to bleed….er….wait for backup. And you, like me, will be wondering why. Spooky alley filled with war-torn debris and more dead people, not to mention a ghastly apparition? That’s the correct path, right there. Yup. He’s dead. Who saw that coming? Please raise your hands. Exactly.

Cut to a science lab where they will talk a lot of mumbo-jumbo that is completely pointless, as it has nothing to do with the main story. All it tells us is that it’s the future, which we kinda guessed, and they’re searching for a rare element. It’s so rare, in fact, that it used to be used in ink cartridges. Like people, scientists, in the past were just throwing away rare, and valuable, elements to make office toner cartridges. After a failed experiment, a proof of concept, really, the now main character is trying to get a government contract, but doesn’t land it.

Apparently the people in the uniforms instantly think of murder, and weaponizing the tech on display. If you think it’s another stretch, you’re right. After what results in a ‘I would never!’ the story moves on, having a hard pause for this piece of info that lead nowhere. This scene could’ve been skipped over, just to get to the next scene, and introduce the main character with half the dialogue, and none of the plot holes. And guess what? The movie does JUST THAT! Science McScruffyGuy gets sent to the unit that experienced all the death at the apparitions. Why? He invented the tech they use.

Science McScruffyGuy lands overseas with new tech, having been told about the ghost thing, which leads to the military unit trying to bust his chops. Of course, can’t have the military involved in a movie without that scene, can we? Fill in pointless exposition, old buddy syndrome, and then begin to take bets on who’s going to die in the next encounter with the ghosty ghosts. Let’s head into a war-torn city with a scientist who’s never been in combat, wielding tech that’s never been tested! That count you had on who’s going to die? Double it. ‘Cause even the cliché gods throw their hands up.

The scene in the building, as they ascend, looking for evidence of…something, is actually a pretty cool scene. This is where you start to see the influences of the movie begin to emerge, “Ghostbusters,” “Aliens,” and even some “Predator.” The homage is thick, but still BARELY original enough, so you don’t choke on your drink while they nudge you in the ribs with a ‘Huh? Huh? Did ya get it?’ We finally meet the enemy, and also recover the lone survivor of the last squad that went in to fight. So, what are we up against? Evil specters? Demons? Wrathful ghosts? Nope! Blue…mist….ish.

These blue mist creature things descend upon the new soldiers like locusts on a newly grown corn field. And, wouldn’t you know it? These things can only be seen with that exact, specific, one-of-a-kind camera that McScruffyGuy brought along. Now begins the second act: Survival in a war-torn country that looks a lot like the back lot to “Band of Brothers.” We run, scream, and flail our way through the next couple of scenes, only to end up in an iron factory. Because, you know, Third World countries still have those in abundance. Plus, they’re really convenient when you need a plot point.

We find out the invisible ghost-a-ma-things can’t touch, or cross, iron. So we spend the night with the soldiers, and their new orphan wards: Newt 2.0 and other kid. The exposition sleepover ends with the ghost-a-ma-things figuring out a way around the iron defenses, and going full zombie horde on the survivors, and their new dead weights. The next scene, however, is actually pretty cool, I cannot deny it. We begin the run for safety, the ghost-a-ma-things hot on their heels.

The pick up occurs in a town square-type setting, and honestly, this is the beginning of that ‘I didn’t think they’d kill them’ feeling. This scene is AWESOME! Tanks! Helicopters! Guns! Ghost-a-ma-things! Explosions! And all of this at once! This is the kind of scene that people that love the ’80s and all the glorious ridiculousness live for. The slow-motion shots are simply breathtaking, and the intensity can be felt with every second of what’s happening. So: Kudos on an epic scene, movie. However, all things must come to an end.

That moment, no matter how bad we wanted it to stay, is gone. We arrive at the bunker with the rest of the people that are left from the ghost-a-ma-things and all the war, too. During this scene is where lines are drawn, loyalties divided, and shouts get shoutier. So, remember how it took Science McScruffyGuy years to perfect the tech that he used in the camera that allows them to see the ghost-a-ma-things? Well, it takes him hours to weaponize it, and make it part of the standard kit that they hand out to the soldiers, ready to go and fight the ghosty-ghosts.

Here’s where we bring the review to an end, because we enter the final act, and, as you know, no spoilers in a Deadman review. The direction of this movie is great, taking huge cues, and notes from other movies, and all the greats. Acting ranges from pretty dang good to ‘Is that the read we’re going with on that line?’ There are some really cool shots, and some actual scares, but this movie, I feel, collapses under its own weight at a certain point. I still, however, will highly recommend watching it. Until next time, folks! Stay Tuned!